TOWN councillors in Watchet have delivered a vote of no confidence in county highways chiefs in their ongoing battle to improve safety at the notorious Washford Cross junction. The civic leaders have spearheaded calls for a roundabout where the B3190 meets the main A39 Williton to Minehead road and have won the support of neighbouring councils in Williton, Old Cleeve and Nettlecombe. The strength of feeling was so high that Watchet councillors decided the time had come for a face to face meeting to give local people the chance to hear why Somerset County Council is reluctant to spend an estimated £500,000 to construct a roundabout at the site. They planned to stage a public meeting at which a raft of issues relating to accident prevention measures would be discussed and asked for senior highways officers to attend. But their hopes turned to fury last week when the county council announced that no officer would make an appearance, prompting claims that the authority's attitude smacked of arrogance. And town councillors unanimously backed a motion that "Watchet Town Council has no confidence in the county council portfolio holders for highways or their officers". Council chairman Cllr Dave Westcott told the Free Press that the response from the county council had angered everyone. But he said neither he nor his fellow councillors were prepared to give up and he urged people to bombard the county with letters and emails demanding officers and highways portfolio holders attend a public meeting. "We had earmarked a date for a public meeting but there is absolutely no point in holding it if county representatives are refusing to come along. "We feel very strongly that a roundabout is the solution for the problems at this junction and we felt we needed to discuss this and the measures that have recently put in place there with officers who are dealing with it on a day to day basis. "I just think their attitude is very poor." The county council has already come under fire for a £30,000 package of measures at the junction installed last November, which includes an illuminated bollard, new signing and red anti-skid and other road markings. It introduced the scheme after an accident analysis which identified a need to highlight the junction to drivers on the main road, but within two months of its installation, the crossroads were the scene of a four-car pile-up. A spokesman for Somerset Highways failed to give a reason for the decision that officers should not attend the public meeting but said the existing safety scheme was introduced as a result of 17 recorded personal injury accidents over a five year period. She reiterated that analysis of the records indicated that the most appropriate treatment was to highlight the approaches to the junctions with the A39. "It is always our intention to try to engineer out potential highway issues/conflicts and to reduce the likely recurrence of any ongoing pattern of accidents," said the spokesman. "We are monitoring the effectiveness of the works at reducing the accident total, a process best carried out over a minimum of 12 months to properly take into account seasonal variations in traffic flow. "Preliminary investigations have been undertaken into the practicalities and cost of a roundabout at this location. "The topography is, however, not conducive to the provision of a roundabout due to the relatively steep approach from the south and the horizontal alignment on main road approaches which could lead to difficulties in providing the appropriate forward visibility of stationary vehicles. "The likely costs would be relatively high for comparatively small returns in relation to the quantifiable benefits when measured against the criteria which the county council must meet with respect to utilisation of funding provided for highway works through the Local Transport Plan."
